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. WILSON.

GAME APPARATUS.

No. 504,073. Patented Aug.l 29,v 18.93.

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f wg/Zwam@ lUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MARTIN M. WILSON, on LLANDUDNo, ENGLAND.

GAM E APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Iietters Patent No. 504,073, dated August 29, 1893.

Application filed March 21. 1893. Serial No. 467,039. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, MARTIN ,MIDDLETON WILSON, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Eithinog, Abbey Road,.Llan dudno, in the county of Carnarvon, Principality of Wales, Kingdom of Great Britain, have invented certain new and useful Im'- provements in Game Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for use 1n games where a ball, a bat, and a hoop or frame are employed, the ball being passed tlllrough the aperture within the frame, in the p ay.

` A game for which my improved apparatus is especially adapted, is described in my pending application, Serial No. 449,761, filed October 24, 1892.

My present invention consists partly in the construction of the double fr ame or hoop and partly in a simple and effective means for determining, visually, Whether the ball in play has actually passed through the ring, hoopor frame. An annunciator which appeals to the hearing alone is not reliable during the excitement of the game, in cases where a dispute arises, but a semaphore or visual annunciator will be a silent but indisputable witness of the passage of the ball through the hoop.

In carrying out my invention in its preferred form, I provide a double hoop or two hoops or frames, arranged side-by-side, said hoops being mounted on a post or like support; and in one of these hoops, on the lower bar thereof, I set up light slender rods or strips, each provided with a broad base of lead, or other heavy material which will support the strip in an erect position in the aperture, butallow it to be knocked over if struck with a ball passing through the hoop. These `strips are placed so near each other as to prevent' the ball from passing without overturning one or more of them, whereby they serve as an annunciator to prove that the ball has passed through the aperture embraced by the frame. The hoop or ring may have vany suitable shape, and thertwo hoops or rings may be of different shapes. It is convenient to have a square aperture Within a square frame.

In the drawings-Figure l shows the apertured, double frame, and the annunciator in their simplest forms. Figs. 2, 3 and 4 illustrate other slightly diierent forms of the apparatus. Fig. 5 shows the bat and ball.

Referring to Fig. l, A and A represent, respectively, the feeders ring and the players ring. These are placed side-by-side and mounted on a post, B, which is set in the ground. The ring A is formed from flat Inaterial with the broader face in a vertical plane, and the ring A', is constructed of similar material, but with its broader face horizontal.

In the players ring A', is situated the annunciator, which consists of a set of light, slender. strips or wires, C, provided with relatively heavy, broad bases, D, which rest on the iiat surface of the lower bar of the ring and hold the strips C erect. The strips are so placed as to make it impossible for the ball.

to pass through the ring A without knocking over one or more of the strips.

The arrangement of the material of the ring Ais to aord ample visibility, and the arrangement of the material of the ring A affords a seating for the strips C, and opposes to the'ball a very thin edge, thus in a measureassuring its passage through the ring if it touches the latter at all. The ring A may be iiared a little, as seen in the section, Fig. 2, in order the better to assure the ball going through if it strikes, as, if the ball strikes the frame and rebounds, it may dislodgeand tumble over some of the strips C. To give the strips a little more stability, they may have their bases constructed as indicated in the section Fig. 3; that is, the base, D, of the strip is somewhat conical or convex on its under side and rests'in a channel or slot in the lower bar of the frame. There may be more than one strip C on a single weighted base, as seen in Fig. 4.

Many modifications of the idea will occur to any one but the essential characteristic of the annunciator is the light strip or wire C, With a broad, weighted base, D, to afford the proper stability.

Having thus claimv l. In a game apparatus, a frame or hoop, and an annunciator to mark the passage of a ball through said hoop, this annunciator comprising a set of strips, C, having weighted described my invention, I

IOO

bases to support them in an erect position in the path of a ball through the hoop, whereby one or more of the said strips will be disturbed and displaced by the impact of the ball, substantially as set forth.

2. A game apparatus comprising a ball, a hoop to pass the ball through, and an annunciator to mark the passage of the ball through the hoop, said annuneiator comprising a set of at, heavy bases, D, resting loosely on the lower bar of the hoop, and slender strips or wires, C, fixed in or to the bases D, and extending into the space within the frame through which the ball must pass, as set forth.

3. In a game apparatus, a double hoop A 

